How the Experience Economy Is Replacing Ownership
The experience economy is no longer a niche marketing idea. The concept, introduced by Joseph Pine and James Gilmore in 1999, describes a progression from raw materials to goods to services and finally to memorable experiences. Now, the article argues, that fourth stage has become a visible economic force: consumers, especially younger and affluent ones, are increasingly choosing events, travel and social encounters over extra income or material possessions.
The numbers behind the claim are substantial. As reported by Vedomosti, the global experience economy was estimated at $8 trillion in 2025. In China, the market reached 18.4 trillion yuan, roughly $2.5 trillion, in November 2025, up 22.6% year on year, and is expected to pass 22 trillion yuan by the end of 2026. In Russia, offline entertainment revenue grew from 227 billion rubles in 2024 to 266 billion rubles in 2025, with concert industry sales up 9% and ticket purchases for cultural events up 21%.
The article attributes the shift to several forces: pandemic-era pent-up demand, fatigue with saturated digital spaces, a desire for authenticity in an environment increasingly shaped by AI-generated content, and a preference for memories that do not depreciate like physical goods. One cited survey of wealthy consumers in the UK, US and China found that 59% planned to raise travel spending.
The article also notes that industrial businesses are responding. Severstal has spent more than 1 billion rubles rebuilding the historic centre of Cherepovets, while the Mega-Pak plant in Rybinsk has converted a bankrupt industrial site into a hub for civic and cultural projects. The piece closes by predicting that the next stage will be an economy of transformation, in which brands are judged less by what they give consumers than by who they help them become.
What the Spending Shift Means for Brands and Industrial Employers
What the Chinese and Russian figures actually show
The data points are large but not directly comparable. China's 18.4 trillion yuan figure appears to cover a broad definition of experience spending, while Russia's 266 billion rubles refers specifically to offline entertainment. That matters: the trend may be real, but the headline numbers are not measuring the same slice of the economy. A 22.6% Chinese annual increase and a 21% rise in Russian cultural ticket purchases do, however, point in the same direction: consumers are shifting marginal spending toward live, in-person events.
Still, the article gives reasons rather than proof for some causal claims. The assertion that consumers are tired of digital noise and seeking authenticity is supported by expert comment and survey intention, not by hard evidence that emotional deficit drives actual purchasing. That part should be read as interpretation, not measurement.
Why Severstal and Mega-Pak are instructive
If an industrial company invests more than 1 billion rubles in a city's historic centre or converts a bankrupt site into cultural space, it is not simply charity. The reported effects, including new companies, rising business activity and youth retention, suggest a local economic development bet. But the article presents those outcomes without quantified before-and-after data. For other companies, the lesson is conditional: cultural investment may make a region more attractive to workers and strengthen community relations, but it will not automatically show up in direct revenue.
From emotion to transformation
Oleg Leshchuk's SPIEF 2026 observation shifts the frame from one-off experience to lasting change. If value is defined by how a person is transformed after interacting with a brand, then the real differentiator is follow-through: education, skill-building and measurable life outcomes, not just spectacle. That is the strongest reason for businesses to treat the experience economy as more than event marketing.
The limit of calling emotions a currency
The article's conclusion calls emotions the main currency of the modern world, but that is a rhetorical leap. Memories are valuable to consumers, yet they cannot be exchanged, stored or used to settle obligations in an economic sense. Businesses still price experiences in money, and consumers must fund them from current income. The durable competitive point is simpler: where goods and services are standardised, distinctiveness increasingly comes from the experience wrapped around them.
Where Travel, Concerts and Cultural Spending Are Headed
- For consumer-facing brands: The 21% rise in Russian cultural ticket purchases in 2025 and the 59% of surveyed high-income consumers planning more travel suggest demand is moving toward live and educational formats. A brand can test pairing a product with a ticketed in-person workshop or learning event rather than relying only on digital campaigns.
- For industrial and regional employers: Severstal's reported 1 billion ruble Cherepovets investment and Mega-Pak's cultural redevelopment are experiments in using place-based spending to attract workers and business activity. Other companies should define a measurable local goal, such as reducing employee turnover or increasing local enterprise formation, before committing similar capital.
- For consumers: The article argues that memorable experiences outlive material goods, but that does not make them cheaper or risk-free. With concert sales and cultural ticket demand rising, early booking and explicit trade-offs between travel, events and savings matter more for household budgets.
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